The current flowed through me.
From my hands to my arms, into my chest, down my spine, wrapping around every part of me.
I poured more mana.
The tendrils extended outward, thin at first, then thicker, branching, reaching. They stretched across me like veins.
A wave of confused murmurs came from the stands. I watched as soldiers stumbled as they fought to keep a grip on their weapons.
"Let go of the weapons!" I shouted.
One by one, the iron and steel were wrenched free from their hands by the invisible force binding them to me. Swords, daggers, arrows and polearms took to the sky, revolving around me.
The strain hit me making my body heavy.
I increased the amount of mana.
The tendrils tightened, coiling around each weapon, guiding them, aligning them into a wheel of crackling metal behind me.
I glanced toward the audience. Granny and Uncle were wide-eyed, my uncle's mouth hanging open in silent shock. I didn't need to read his mind to know the question: How is he using the thunder element without possessing it?
"To think..."
The voice pulled my focus back instantly.
"You discovered it on your own," Serena said, her smile widening with genuine amusement.
A realization settled in my gut. She already knew. She was aware of this hidden aspect of Force magic, but she still looked genuinely entertained by my discovery.
"Take a closer look!"
I thrust my hand forward. The weapons—arrows, spears, and daggers—shrieked toward her. I dove right behind them, the wheel spinning at my back.
The weapons slammed into her barrier, sparks flying as they were deflected in every direction. Two swords flew into my open hands. I swung with every ounce of my strength, my muscles bulging from the effort. Serena met me with a thrust of her spaff. I raised the twin blades, barely catching the blow, but the force of the impact sent a sharp sting through my chest.
I pushed back.
I commanded more weapons to strike from every conceivable angle battering her sphere, but the barrier didn't budge.
Faster! Stronger!
I soared upward again, my fingers dancing as I manipulated the invisible threads. I pulled the weapons into a tight, frantic movement along the walls of the arena's barrier.
I forced electricity to flow through them, driving them faster and faster, until each blade resounded with a violent charge. Arcs of emerald electricity leapt between steel and steel, the current flowing through them in a continuous, rushing chain.
The air reeked of ozone and hot metal.
I flicked my finger.
One sword broke from the swarm, launched at a velocity even I couldn't follow. It hit the barrier with a thunderous boom shattering on impact.
Fracture lines snapped across the surface, a momentary breach in her perfect defense, but it restored itself instantly.
A smile crept onto my face.
Weapons kept firing from the swarm, one after another, hammering into her barrier. Cracks spread, healed, then spread again as the pressure mounted without pause.
In the back of my mind, I stayed focused on pulling it.
Serena's finger moved once again, tracing another rune. A wall of raging wind erupted around her, a violent gale that swatted my storm of metal away like useless toys in every direction.
Seeing her vision obscured by the howling wind, I gave the soul-straining tug. It broke through the arena's outer barrier with a deafening crack of glass, and I sent it spinning right at Serena. The heavy weapon tore through her wall of wind as if the gale were nothing but a summer breeze.
My mother's axe was embedded with a Sky Titan's gem. Every such gem possesses a unique ability, and the one resting in the head of this weapon had…
"Dodge it!" Uncle's panicked voice cut through all the noise.
… Destruction of all forms of magic.
Serena's eyes widened, the first true sign of alarm crossing her face. She threw herself backward just as the axe sliced through layers of her barrier, cutting clean, ignoring everything placed in its path.
Seeing the opening, I ignored the strain in my muscles and executed another pull while she was still off-balance, focusing on what's buried deep in the ground behind her position.
I raised my hand to catch it, expecting it to tear through Serena before returning to my grip.
But it never reached me.
I looked back at Serena in confusion, my chest heaving as I tried to regain my breath, she was standing perfectly still, her hand reached back behind her neck as if she were simply adjusting her hair.
Did she catch it? How could she have even seen it coming?
A full week of hard work, practicing electromagnetism, flying, earth magic, searching for something small enough to go undetected yet easy to manipulate, and ensuring the stone spikes didn't disrupt its position… All gone down the drain, I have nothing now.
Damn it!
I wasn't done. I couldn't be done. I reached out with my mind, the remaining weapons in the arena rattling as they rose to follow my command. I rushed toward her, ready to burn every last drop of my mana.
"Evaluation concluded. Winner confirmed."
"What?" I stopped in my tracks, my gaze snapping up toward the floating orbs. "I can still fight—"
The words stopped as I remembered the rules.
Did she order the stop?
My head turned back toward Serena. She was looking down at the scarred earth of the arena, her hand still resting behind her neck, her face cast in shadow. Then, a snickering broke the quiet. It grew, bubbling up into a laughter, a loud laughter, an insane laughter.
Her head snapped towards the audience stand with a crazed smile.
"It might be possible, Ellie!" she shouted, her voice ringing with an infectious joy. "It might actually be possible for this 'sun' to rise high enough to burn the heavens!"
Huh?
Sun? Heaven?
What is she even talking about…?
My thoughts stumbled over her words, unable to make sense of them.
The exhaustion in my mind making her words sound like a foreign tongue. My lungs burned with every shallow breath, but a single realization began to dawn through the fog of my fatigue.
She finally brought her hand forward, the one she had been holding behind her neck. She raised the thin needle high between her fingers, and a single, golden drop of blood trailed down the metal.
"It is your win, Siegfried Fors."
I stared at that needle for what felt like an eternity, letting her words sink into my mind. I looked down and realized that my body had already given out, I was on my knees without even remembering falling. I let go of the electromagnetic field, the emerald sparks dying out as I took in a shuddering breath. Sweat poured from my brow, stinging my eyes.
A wild, deafening cheer rumbled from the stands, the sound of hundreds of soldiers leaping to their feet. The applause was like a physical wave, washing over the arena in a roar of approval.
"That is our young lord!"
"Young lord! Great job!"
"Truly the second coming of Lady Valka!"
The pride in their voices acted like a tonic. I forced my shaking legs to lock, pushing myself up until I stood tall in the center of the broken ground. I raised my fist toward the sky in a sign of victory, and the crowd answered with a roar that shook the very foundations of the barony.
"Young lord!"
"Young lord!"
"Young lord!"
"Young lord!"
"Young lord!"
"Young lord!"
The voices started blurring together.
"Relishing your victory, huh."
Miss Serena's voice reached me as she walked closer.
I gave a tired scoff, the effort of maintaining my posture making my muscles twitch. "I am their lord. I need to look strong in front of them. Besides, I broke… their weapons."
A faint guilt settled in my chest as I glanced at the scattered weapons across the arena.
"Let me do you a favor," Miss Serena said.
She tapped the base of her staff against the ground. Something… radiated from the point of impact, and the world began to move in reverse. The stone spikes receded into the ground, the cracks in the dirt sealing as if they had never existed. The broken shards of steel rose from the dust, mending themselves in mid-air before flying back to the stands, landing perfectly in the hands of their owners.
Murmurs of joy and disbelief rang out from the soldiers as they inspected their restored blades.
Time magic really is overpowering. In truth, I was planning to ask her to do this from the start, but seeing it happen so effortlessly is still humbling.
I turned my gaze toward the stands, looking for the people who mattered most. Granny gave me a firm nod, a proud smile warming her face. Unc still looked a little shell-shocked, his eyes darting between me and the repaired arena, while James happily waved at me with big eyes.
Then, my eyes met Grandpa's.
The distant, hollow look was gone. He was looking directly at me, and for the first time in many long, dark days, I saw him truly smile. The sight of it felt like a weight lifting off my own heart.
That look alone made every grueling second of the last week worth the effort.
"Come, let us talk alone," Miss Serena said, already turning her back to me.
"I do not think I can walk," I admitted, my voice barely a whisper.
The adrenaline was failing me, and the reality of my condition came rushing back. My mana veins felt like they were being scoured by liquid fire, a heat that radiated from my head to my fingertips.
I overdid it. My soul crucible is screaming.
"Yellow."
At her word, the yellow orb drifted until it hovered directly above my head. Its surface rippled, reflecting the sunlight like the disturbed face of a still pond. The energy concentrated at a single point on its underside before a single, brilliant drop of liquid light fell, splashing against the crown of my head.
The effect was instantaneous. I felt a rush of cool, soothing energy flood my body, quenching the fire in my veins and refilling my crucible. The pain smoothed out, replaced by a deep sense of relief.
"W-wow. Thank you," I said, looking up at the orb.
"No problem, dear," Yellow replied, her voice sounding unexpectedly sweet and nurturing.
"Now, come."
Miss Serena pointed her staff toward the empty air, and a small, circular purple portal opened into existence. I heard the hurried thud of footsteps from the side and saw my family approaching, their faces a mix of pride and confusion.
"Where are you taking him?" Granny asked, her eyes sharp as she looked at the gateway.
"I will be taking him for an hour or so," Miss Serena answered simply before stepping through the portal and vanishing into the violet light.
I looked back at my family, my gaze lingering on Granny until she gave me a reassuring nod. Then, I turned to Grandpa. He stood there, looking more present than he had in weeks, the shadow over his face finally beginning to lift.
"We will be waiting at the table for lunch," Grandpa said, his smile genuine and warm.
I returned the smile, feeling a rise of quiet triumph. I nodded to them one last time and stepped into the portal, the purple light swallowing me whole.
I stepped into a world drenched in deep violet. Objects hung suspended in the air like forgotten thoughts: upside-down teacups, floating kettles, books, chairs, tables and glowing lamps all floated around. My boots met the floor, which looked like a vast mirror reflecting my tired face, yet every step I took sent ripples across the surface as if I were walking on water.
...What is this place?
"Feel free to take a seat," Serena said, her back toward me as she walked further into the room.
Take a seat? Where? There's nothing but empty air and floating junk.
She turned back towards me and bent her knees backward, her body lowering with casual grace. The moment her posture changed, a grand, velvet sofa materialized out of thin air to catch her.
Am I supposed to just trust the air?
I slowly lowered myself, my muscles tensing in anticipation of a hard fall, but a wooden stool solidified beneath me just in time. I looked at her luxurious sofa and then at my hard stool.
The power gap is one thing, but the hospitality gap is just insulting.
"So, how did you find out about the electromagnetism part of Force magic?"
As she spoke, a tea set flew between us. The kettle tipped on its own, pouring steaming liquid into the cups..
"So you do know about it. How come it's not public knowledge?" I asked, reaching out to wrap my fingers around the warm cup.
"I will tell you the reason, but first, tell me how you found out. Did Valka Fors explain it to you?"
So there's a chance my mother did knew about this.
She took a slow, deliberate sip of her tea while plates of colorful confections appeared on the table between us.
"It's hard to explain," I began, my mind drifting back to that rainy evening. "I was training in the arena a few days after Uncle Erik returned. I had just started learning Force magic when it started raining. Lightning was cracking everywhere. I took shelter in the entrance, but I hated the wait. I thought if I could create a repulsion field in every direction, I could push the rain away and just walk home."
I took a sip of the tea.
"I did as planned, and it worked well enough at first. But as I was walking, I started getting this prickly feeling all over my skin. Then there was a massive roar above me and a flash of blinding light. I raised my hands in defense, but there was no pain. When I looked around, the ground was scorched, but I was unhurt. More importantly, emerald sparks were crackling across my body… They died down quickly, and I went home so confused I just fell asleep."
I stared at my palms, remembering the raw power of that moment.
"The feeling I got that day stayed with me, flowing through my entire body like a ghost. I sought out some thunder mages after we came back from time dungeon to understand the sensation, and with their help I could feel it again, I took hold of it. After studying the theories and experiments. I understood the true nature of what Force magic actually is."
A low groan reached my ears.
I looked up to see Serena with her face buried in her palms as if she were trying to block out a headache. "Unbelievable. To think a random lightning strike helped in breaking a thousand-year-old curse... No, it might not have been random at all."
"A curse?" I leaned forward, the tea in my cup forgotten. "What do you mean?"
"You asked why people don't know what Force magic is truly capable of," she said, finally looking up. "That is the reason. Someone cursed the 'magic' at the end of their life so that no human could ever touch its other aspects. Electromagnetism, the strong nuclear force, and the weak nuclear force, all of it was locked away."
It is just like I thought! Those two exist as well! The possibilities this opens are endless.
"You can stop grinning now," Serena said, her voice flat.
"Ah, sorry," I replied, only then noticing the wide smile stretching across my face. I cleared my throat and picked up a small piece of cake to hide my excitement. "But why would someone do that?"
"I don't know the reason," she said, reaching out to pick a tasty-looking chocolate cupcake from a floating plate. "But one thing is clear. Whoever did this didn't want humanity to discover the full potential of Force magic."
I leaned back slightly, the sweetness barely registering on my tongue.
It sounds like it was done out of pure spite.
"So how does this curse actually function?" I asked. The floating kettle moved closer of its own accord, the amber liquid steaming as it refilled my cup.
Wow
"First, let us discuss how Force magic would function if the curse did not exist," Serena said, leaning back into her plush sofa. "A practitioner can naturally create forces of attraction and repulsion. Those with an affinity between 80 and 84 can also manipulate gravity itself. Moving higher, those with an 85 to 89 affinity can access electromagnetism. From 90 to 94, the strong nuclear force becomes available, and those at the peak, 95 to 100, can command the weak nuclear force. But because of the curse, everything beyond gravity is rendered inaccessible. Do you follow me so far?"
I gave a small nod.
"Now, as for the mechanics of the curse," Serena continued, raising a finger to emphasize her point. "It targets those of mortal blood specifically. It ensures they are unable to grasp the other aspects. It is not just a matter of being unable to cast the spells, the very information regarding those aspects is blocked and cannot be passed down. If you try to speak the truth, the listener will hear nothing but silence or static. If you write it down, the words will appear smeared and illegible to the reader. Even if you tried to transplant the information directly into a mind, the recipient would be unable to comprehend a single word of it. The curse actively prevents the mortal brain from re-discovering the truth. It is a perfect, self-sustaining amnesia."
She paused, a small, arrogant smirk playing on her lips.
"Of course, my mind operates on a level far superior to any human. Such petty limitations do not apply to me."
"So how did I discover it?" I asked, confusion stacking over confusion. My mind split between the mystery of the curse and the impossible task of choosing which cupcake to eat next.
"Quite obvious." She snapped her fingers, and a creamy, chocolate-heavy cupcake floated directly into my reach. "Don't you remember what that unending demon called you?"
I tried to recall, my thoughts dulled for a moment as sweetness melted across my tongue.
What was it…
Tree bastard's kin?" I guessed, not entirely sure.
"Halfling," she corrected sharply. "It should have been impossible for someone like you to even exist, even with divine intervention. The only explanation I can find is a Mutation. A very special one."
A mutation? Am I a mutant like those salamanders? Is that what this second heart in my chest represents... that I am just like Mother? Is it my appearance? I look so different from her. Or could it be my eye? Zayn mentioned it was a very special blood trait...
The fragments of the Time Dungeon began to click into place, especially the venom in the demon's voice when he looked at me.
"So you mean I am a half-Paradeus? What exactly is a Paradeus? That monster called both you and Mother by that name. What's the difference between a 'Mage and a 'Paradeus'?"
"What do you think a Paradeus is?" Serena countered, her eyes watching me over the rim of her tea cup.
Does she ever just give a straight answer?
"From what I have observed, you people possess a second heart," I began, my hand instinctively moving toward my chest. "I have one too. Yours is beating, but mine is silent. Then there is your golden blood, though I have never seen Mother bleed, so I can't be certain. And finally, this whole Paradeus identity seems tied to Concepts. For Mother, it is 'War/ Conflict'. For you, it is 'Knowledge/ Reason'. That is the extent of my theories."
I watched her closely, searching her face for any sign that my theories had hit the mark. Instead, she was frowning, her eyes narrowing into a sharp glare that made the air in the purple room shiver.
"Hmph. The only reason I bled at all was because I was barely trying and intentionally blocking my senses to give you a fighting chance," she said, her voice sounding genuinely offended.
That is what she is angry about?
I sighed internally, trying to steer the conversation back to the mystery of my own blood. "So, was I correct?"
"You noticed some good points. It is actually... impressive." She conceded the point with a reluctant tilt of her head.
"So what is a Paradeus?" I asked, my voice coming out more forceful than I intended.
"I do not think you need to know that right now." She leaned back into her sofa, her expression shifting into a mask of boredom.
""What?" The stool scraped softly as I pushed myself up. "Why?"
She looked back at me, completely unbothered.
"I will tell you eventually, when I feel like it. Keep me happy and you will find out." She picked up another cupcake and began to chew on it slowly, completely dismissing my outburst.
…This woman.
My jaw tightened slightly.
She's doing this on purpose.
"Do you actually want to be spoon-fed everything?"
She leaned in, her gaze boring into mine, piercing right through my skull as if she were looking into my very soul.
"Or do you want to find out the truth with your own strength?"
She pushed herself up from the cushions, moving forward until she stood inches from me.
"I will do whatever it takes to find the truth," I said.
My voice didn't shake. I met her eyes, feeling a spark of resolve ignite deep in my chest, burning away the last of my exhaustion.
She tilted her head, studying me. "If you can endure my teachings, I can promise you this: you will find everything you seek. But do not think it will be easy. There will be moments when you will want to quit, where you will crumble both physically and mentally. It will be more grueling than anything you have endured in your short life. Do you still want this?"
Her open hand extended toward me, the offer hanging in the air.
She's giving me a choice. But my decision was made a week ago.
I hopped off the stool, standing my ground on the rippling floor.
My eyes met hers without wavering.
"Please. I have been trained by my mother and a man who lives for the sake of tormenting me. There is nothing you can throw at me that I can't handle.
I accept, Miss Serena"
I reached out and gripped her hand. Her skin was unnervingly cool, but the strength in her fingers was absolute.
"Hmm~ Now that is a challenge I am willing to accept. I am actually looking forward to breaking you, Siegfried Fors and its 'Teacher' from now on."
"The feeling is somewhat mutual… Teacher"
The space around us remained quiet.
But beneath it all, I could tell–
This is where it begins.